Does Business Administration Require Math?

If you’re interested in pursuing a business administration degree, you may think you’ll need to be a whiz at spreadsheets, accounting formulas, and finance concepts—in essence, math. But math is just one part of the business administration curriculum, and depending on your concentration, your degree may not be as math-heavy as you think. Although mathematical concepts are woven into many business administration curriculums, there’s much more to getting a business degree than that.

Whether you’re great at math or not much of a fan, you can successfully pursue a business administration degree and pick up a lot of other knowledge and skills along the way.

The Importance of Mathematics in Business Administration

Business administration involves the management of an organization’s resources to drive sales, compete in the market, and meet objectives for growth. To accomplish these goals, you often need math. However, math in business administration entails much more than the algebra, geometry, and calculus that you probably remember from high school. It has real-world applications in the day-to-day of many business career paths. 

Business professionals use math to do the following:

• Establish budgets and plan investments related to people, technology, and equipment purchases.
• Create and measure revenue targets. 
• Determine the amount of employee salary increases and incentives.
• Identify the terms and timing for a merger or acquisition.

Given the enormous role of math in operating a business, it’s understandable that it would also be prominent in a business administration degree program. No matter the course title, you will find math concepts in many classes you’ll take when pursuing a business administration degree. With MVNU Online,our Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program includes several core classes that incorporate math principles such as quantitative reasoning, modeling, and problem-solving. Examples include:

• Accounting Fundamentals
• Business Statistics
• Business Finance
• Human Resources
• Micro and Macroeconomics
• Strategic Planning

Remember that the math you will likely encounter in a BBA degree program isn’t all formulas and computations. Just like in a modern business, these math concepts have real-world relevance. They ultimately tie back to helping you understand how businesses work, make money, and flourish. For example, in the MVNU Online BBA microeconomics course, you’ll learn how to calculate an organization’s production costs and how those costs factor into a business’s operating budget. With this knowledge, you’ll be equipped to pursue roles in operations, management, logistics, and other areas.

Are Advanced Math Skills Needed for Business Administration Programs?

You’re far from alone in considering a business administration degree. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, business ranks as one of the top three most popular majors among undergraduate students year over year, and for good reason. A business degree equips you with transferable technical and soft skills and can open the door to several career paths in management, marketing, finance, human resources, and many other areas.

You’re also not alone in wondering if you can pursue business administration without a strong math background. Here’s some good news to answer that question: Though math is a necessary part of business administration and most business degrees, you have some options in terms of how much math you will encounter as you complete your degree. For example, pursuing a BBA in finance will include more math than a BBA in digital marketing.

MVNU Online recognizes individual preferences for specific business areas, offering six concentrations in the BBA program. From these options, you can select a major based on your broader interests and how math-intensive you want your course of study to be.

So, does business administration require math? It depends on your major. Each BBA major at MVNU Online delivers the same core business courses but differs in the math you can expect to use in your major-specific classes. 

Here are the options you can consider and what kind of math you can expect in each:

BBA in Marketing

This major offers opportunities to learn about traditional marketing principles and modern practices for advertising, marketing research, and personal selling. You can expect to cover some mathematical concepts when learning to analyze and interpret marketing and advertising data.

BBA in Digital Marketing

The business degree in digital marketing teaches you how to leverage email, social media, search engine optimization, and other tools to help organizations increase brand awareness and sales. Similar to the BBA in Marketing, you will cover mathematical concepts related to marketing data analytics. 

BBA in Finance

Possibly one of the most math-intensive business majors, the BBA in Finance includes coursework in areas such as financial analysis, savings and credit management, and applying financial strategies in the securities markets. 

BBA in Management

The BBA in Management allows students to delve deeper into the core BBA curriculum and covers additional ground in topics such as strategic planning and operations management. You’ll use some math as you cover topics related to developing and managing a small business.

BBA in Human Resource Management

The BBA in HR Management teaches techniques for helping employees have positive and productive experiences in the workplace. Although HR management is primarily concerned with human rather than financial resources, you can still expect to use math as you learn about budgeting, planning, and allocating compensation, benefits, and other workforce investments.

BBA in Project Management

In this major, you’ll learn how to manage the people, timelines, and deliverables of projects. You’ll also learn how to apply math techniques that will help you build and manage project budgets.

Other Factors to Consider When Pursuing a Business Administration Degree

It’s reasonable to wonder how much math is involved in a business administration degree. However, there are other factors to consider when deciding if a business degree is right for you. For example:

Opportunities to Gain Transferable Skills

A business degree offers multi-disciplinary learning opportunities to prepare you for roles in multiple industries, including health care, manufacturing, and technology. You will also learn the necessary business principles for pursuing entrepreneurship. Besides technical skills, earning your business degree will sharpen your soft skills in areas such as communication, analytical thinking, and teamwork.  

Greater Job Stability

With the holistic business knowledge a BBA provides, you can use your degree to gain employment opportunities that span across several business functions within an organization. If you want to change careers, a BBA may provide the extra credentials you need to become a more attractive applicant to prospective employers.

Alignment with Your Life Goals

If you’ve always dreamed of a business career, a BBA can be the next step to help you get closer to realizing that dream. Additionally, when you pursue a flexible online degree program, you can keep working while you take one of the most important steps for your future.

Explore a Career in Business Administration

Does business administration require math? Yes, it does, but it’s highly relevant and will ultimately help you achieve your desired business career. Plus, MVNU Online offers a robust tutoring platform that can help you tackle the math concepts you encounter throughout the program and your career with confidence. 

With your choice of six dynamic concentrations, an undergraduate business degree from MVNU Online may be what you need to steer your education in the direction that interests you most. You’ll have the flexibility to take classes when it works for you and experience a robust curriculum filled with practical lessons you can apply on the job.

To learn more, read Why a BBA Degree? Paths to Success and Careers in Business.